She breathed, "I'm ready to become what I am supposed to be – a vampire."

I might have believed her had it not been for the trembling in her voice. I quickly reassured, "You do not have to do this now. My words were not an attempt to push you into making this decision. You have time."

She replied, "You are not pushing me. I have been thinking about it ever since Felaern left....And I was going to ask you to do it when we returned from our trip...but really, what is one week sooner?"

"Are you really sure this is what you want, Tigru? Once done, there is no going back. I don't want you to have any regrets," I insisted.

She bit her lip, but there was resoluteness in her tone and a firm set in her shoulders that I recognized. She said softly, "How could I ever regret stepping into my destiny? If that is what I was born to be, I don't think regret would be possible."

Well, she did have a point there. Still, I studied her for a long moment, looking for any hint of doubt. She placed her hand on my chest and whispered, "Of course, I'm nervous. But I know this is the right time."

I pulled her to my chest, wrapped my arms around her, and whispered against her hair, "Okay."

When I leaned back, I extracted my phone and murmured, "I need to call Echo. We need a human for the transition."

Raine's voice raised an octave as she gasped, "Wait! Do I have to kill someone?"

Before I had a chance to relieve her fears, Talon interjected determinedly, "Use me."

I looked up at him in surprise. He and Ivy had been packing in the rear of our chalet and in my intense focus on Raine, I hadn't even noticed him walk into the room.

Raine stared at him in horror.

Talon remained calm, which meant he knew the process to change a human, but I had forgotten that Raine did not. "No, you do not have to kill anyone!"

The alarmed expression in her eyes calmed, but her anxiety was still very present, which was understandable. I motioned Talon forward, and he moved to sit in the closet chair. I turned back to Raine and explained as gently as possible, "The first step is for me to bite you. I will need to drain your blood until you are at edge the death."

Raine's eyes widened even further and she bit her lip.

I said softly, "Don't worry. I can do this. I will be listening for when your heartbeat skips and falters. When I hear it, we will switch. At that point, you will drink my blood."

Her nose wrinkled in distaste at the thought. "You won't mind the taste," I gave her a small smile and then spoke tightly, "However there will be a few moments of pain. Until my blood takes effect in your system...It will burn."

"Burn?" she whispered as she stared at me with wide eyes.

I nodded. "Yes...but it doesn't last long. My blood starts your transition. After that, Talon comes in. You will drink from him, but it won't hurt, you will enjoy it and you won't take enough from him to put him at risk."

"Okay," she breathed.

I changed our positions on the bed, so that my back rested against the headboard and she was settled between my thighs so that I could control her movement with my body. Unfortunately, once the burn began, she would instinctually fight me.